Naruto Uzumaki, Son of Apollo: The Lightning Thief
by Rave Rose of Twilight
Summary: What if Naruto and a few other Naruto characters were born in the PJO Universe? This is my insight into such a world. Also, all of my previous stories are temporarily on hiatus. I have terrible writer's block and with the current workload at my job and the few chances I get to write freely, I don't have as much time to work on them as I would like. Read and review please.
1. From Japan to New York: Greetings

**Naruto Uzumaki, Son of Apollo: The Lightning Thief**

**Warning: I don't own PJO or Naruto. Don't make me repeat myself.**

**Written By: Rave Rose of Twilight**

Chapter One: From Japan to New York: Greetings, Naruto Uzumaki!

_I suppose an introduction is in order. My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I'm twelve years old with sunny blond hair and sky blue eyes. I was born in Tokyo, Japan, but thanks to my dad, my mom and I were able to become American citizens and now we live in New York, New York. Now, a lot of you are about to ask who my dad is and what makes him so special that he could get my mother and I to become American citizens so quickly. To tell you the truth..._

_...I don't know. I never knew my dad...or rather, I never met him before. My mom, Kushina Uzumaki, always told me that he was a kind, good-looking man who always traveled on business trips that kept him away from us for long periods of time. Whenever I bring him up when I get curious about him, she would laugh and call him a flirtatious, womanizing flake with no aptitude for poetry._

_I'd always laugh because I know she loved him even after saying all those mean things about him. When she looked at me, she would say I reminded her of him. Same hair. Same eyes. Her little ball of sunshine. That was her nickname for me when I was little. She taught me how to fight...just in case I was ever bullied in school. She was actually really cool like that._

_She taught me a lot of things growing up that I didn't quite understand her reasoning for, but I went with it...if only to see her smile._

_She took me to martial arts class after I...'accidentally' beat the living hell out of a kid for picking on one of my friends named Grover Underwood because he was helpless and a cripple. Needless to say, I was the best in my class. After the third grade, mom hired a private tutor to teach me how to play the violin and guitar. Again, somehow, my teacher said I took to music like a fish took to water and after a few lessons, said I would only need experience in order to become a member of a famous orchestra like the New York Philharmonic._

_Don't ask me how a single mother of one could afford to send her son to martial arts classes and hire a private tutor in New York, afford to live in a studio apartment, and send him to a boarding school while working for the Department of Transportation. I think my dad may have left her a small fortune before having to leave us for his business. At least, I would like to think he cared that much about our welfare._

_Today, I'm on a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for Mr. Brunner's 6th grade Latin class with Mrs. Dodds, our math teacher at Yancey Academy, as the chaperone. Grover Underwood and I were hanging out with our other friend, Percy Jackson as Mr. Brunner, the wheelchair-bound teacher, began lectures about the various pieces of art as we passed them by. However, I quickly noticed that our next destination was the Greek Mythology display. I couldn't keep my excitement in check as we entered the room._

It was midday when a group of chattering, noisy children led by two teachers. One, Mr. Brunner, a Caucasian teacher bound to a wheelchair with thick, wavy brown hair and matching beard, was trying his hardest to explain to the class about certain artifacts while the other, Mrs. Dodds, a wrinkly old woman wearing clothes that reminded everyone of the things grandmothers wore in the sixties with a purse to match, seemed to glare intensely at Percy Jackson, one of the only three students trying to pay attention to Mr. Brunner's lecture.

Beside Percy Jackson were his two best friends, Grover Underwood, a young African-American boy with curly brown hair and what looked like a soul patch that gave him an appearance that he was older than his records stated, who was walking on a pair of steel crutches to his right while Naruto Uzumaki, a young boy who was admittedly short for his age at a measly 4 feet 8 inches tall with bright golden blond hair and eyes so blue they looked like they were crafted right out of the clear blue sky, was on his left.

Naruto often stuck up for Percy and Grover when it came to bullies, like one Nancy Bobofit. Nancy Bobofit is many things. Good-looking (to her friends). Perfect (to her friends, parents, and every teacher in the school save Mr. Brunner). But there was one thing that only Naruto, Percy, and Grover agreed on. Nancy Bobofit was a Grade A Bitch. She would always pick on Grover out of the three because he was least likely to break your face or fight back and most likely to cry if you picked on him enough.

It was as she was launching peanut butter and ketchup wads at Grover's curly hair that Naruto had enough. He calmly walked over with an overly sweet smile on his face, ripped the sandwich and packets of ketchup from Nancy's hands, and threw it in the trash before spitting a massive loogie on it to prevent her, or anyone else, from willingly picking it up.

"If you throw one more thing at Grover, I'll turn you into one of these exhibits, Bobofit," he said, causing the girl and her red hair to pale several shades before going back to his friends.

"Thanks for that," Grover said with a sad tone to his voice before Naruto gave him a noogie, dislodging any more of the brown and red 'lunch' from his hair before patting him on the back with a brilliant smile that could blind anyone who looked at it.

"It's all good, Grover," he said reassuringly. "We've known each other for a while now. I'll always have your back."

Grover smiled brightly in response. Something about Naruto just made you want to smile and look at the world in the best light possible. Like you couldn't avoid being his friend. He was incredibly charismatic when he needed to be and incredibly violent when he wanted to be or when someone was dumb enough to threaten his friends.

As they made their way into the Greek Exhibits, Mr. Brunner had just gotten through grilling Percy about the story of the Titanomachy started, how Zeus and the first generation of Olympians had defeated their father, Kronos, and the other titans, with the exception of their mother, Rhea, and cast them down to face their punishments, as well as demigods and how they were born from the 'relations' between the Greek Gods and mortals. Kronos had been cut into thousands of pieces and his immortal body scattered throughout Tartarus.

Then, Nancy Bobofit made a sarcastic remark about how knowing about how Kronos ate his kids and started the war between Titans and Gods would matter in real life.

"Well, Mr. Uzumaki, how would, to paraphrase Ms. Bobofit's question, this information be useful in real life," Mr. Brunner asked.

Naruto looked pensive for a moment before saying something he had no idea why he said in the first place. "Well, there are no stories about how the Gods died, so one can only assume that they still live and continue to give birth to new demigods, even in this day and age. For all we know, the person or people standing right next to us could be Demigods, for all we know." Mr. Brunner and Grover looked at him with analytical eyes, but he chuckled, as if recalling a joke to himself. "But that's just wishful thinking. I suppose...if we were to go to Greece and try to get a job in a museum or as archeologists, the information and knowledge would help us, but outside of that, I can't think of much else."

"Indeed," Mr. Brunner said carefully. "Anyway, a full credit to Mr. Jackson and Mr. Uzumaki. Now, seeing as it is almost noon, Ms. Dodd will escort you all to the pavillion to eat your lunches."

Percy and Grover were about to leave when they saw Naruto staring at one of the statues in the corner. Turning around, Naruto gave them a soft smile and waved them off before walking closer to the statue. He didn't know how long he'd been staring at it, just that he felt some kind of connection to it. "That statue is of Apollo, the Greek God of the Sun, Music, Poetry, and Medicine, you know," called Mr. Brunner from behind him, startling the young boy slightly.

"I know."

"Do you feel some kind of connection to that statue," Mr. Brunner pressed.

Naruto chuckled to himself. "Nah. It's just...he seems kinda flaky to me." Mr. Brunner waited for something to happen, but the only thing he noticed was that the sun shone a bit brighter.

"I see," he said calmly. "I believe Mr. Jackson and Mr. Underwood are waiting for you in the cafeteria. Wouldn't want to keep them waiting." Naruto walked back to his friends without another look back at the statue.

As soon as they sat down, Naruto pulled out what had to be the strangest lunch ever created. It was a miso-flavored ramen sandwich with jalapeno ranch mayo and provolone cheese on whole wheat bread. Without hesitation, Naruto quickly dug into his sandwich with gusto that not even Percy or Grover had seen from anything remotely human. A part of them were disgusted, but another part was intrigued at how Naruto, in spite of eating like a pig, was still a relatively clean eater.

The trio were enjoying themselves, often chatting about some random subject or another, when Nancy Bobofit walked over to them, pretended to trip, and tossed her entire lunch in Grover's face. Percy went to stand up, but Grover placed a hand on his shoulder and practically forced him to sit back down.

Naruto, on the other hand, had just about enough and reached for one of Grover's crutches while looking the smug bitch directly in the eye, causing her to pale and hightail it to the fountains.

"I'm going to kill her," Percy growled, causing Naruto to nod in agreement.

"It's times like these that I hope Karma hits her before I do," the blond said harshly.

"People like her aren't worth getting worked up about, guys," Grover chimed.

That didn't stop Percy and Naruto from glaring at the redhead with every intention on watching something horrible happen to her. Unknown to them, a strange feeling made its self known to the two and without warning, they watched as Nancy screamed, putting her hands over her eyes before something pushed her into the fountain.

Several students were gaping at the sight as Nancy stood back up, her clothes thoroughly soaked, before glaring at the three and pointing at them. "Mrs. Dodds! Naruto pointed a laser pointer in my eyes and Percy shoved me into the fountain!"

"Karma bites, doesn't it," Naruto called out to Nancy. "I wish I could say I did point a laser pointer in your eyes, but I didn't bring one on the trip with me. Unlike you, I was more interested in learning than making the lives of every student on this trip as miserable as possible. And I know for sure that Percy was eating lunch with me and Grover across the building from where you were. So why don't you just tell the truth for once and admit you slipped on a puddle of water rather than blame us for something we couldn't have possibly done."

Either Mrs. Dodds didn't hear or didn't care because she immediately pulled the two aside, muttering about being 'disrespectful on a class field trip' and 'bullying innocent students'. For some reason, Mrs. Dodds absolutely loathed Percy and took every chance to make his school year as miserable as Nancy, if not more so since she was the pre-Algebra teacher.

Once the two were far enough away from the class, Mrs. Dodds spun on them and glared at them as though the look she gave them would immolate them on the spot. "You two have been making trouble for us," she growled out harshly. "Well?"

"Ma'am," Percy started before Naruto interrupted him.

"We have no freaking idea what the hell you're talking about," Naruto said flatly.

"Return what you stole and you will suffer less pain," she screamed, having seemingly disappeared and reappeared atop the scaffolding near one of the exhibits that was being worked on. "Time's up!"

Where Mrs. Dodds once stood, now something reminiscent of nightmares was waiting. Mrs. Dodds had somehow turned into a massive, ugly-looking bat-like creature with talons where her nails once were and thick, leather wings where her jacket used to be. Naruto's and Percy's eyes widened in a combination of shock, awe, and fear as they looked upon the mass of leather and dagger-like talons.

"Percy," Naruto asked hesitantly, not taking his eyes off the creature. "Are we dreaming the same dream?"

"I don't think we're dreaming at all, Naruto," Percy replied.

"Gods damn it," Naruto cried, absently forgetting he said gods instead of God. "She's going to kill us if we don't get the Hell out of here!"

"What ho, boys," called the familiar voice of Mr. Brunner as he waved a bronze pen over his head along with a small bronze ring. "Catch!" As the bat creature that was formerly known as Mrs. Dodds dove, Percy uncapped the pen, watching as it turned into a sword while Naruto put the ring on his right ring finger before watching it turn into a compound bow with a small quiver of 6 arrows.

Naruto quickly nocked an arrow and released it into one of the creature's wings while Percy reacted naturally and bifurcated Mrs. Dodds cleanly, only to watch her disappear in a fine golden dust as two talons fell to the ground dully. Naruto hurried and picked them both up before pocketing them while Percy tried to regain what felt like the shattered remnants of his sanity.

Percy turned quickly toward Naruto, watching as both of their weapons began turning back into the ring and pen respectively. "Did that really just happen," Percy asked. Naruto nodded.

"It had to," the blond teen replied. "But I think the real question here is...what the hell happened, what did Mrs. Dodds turn into, and how are we still alive after that?"

Much to their own chagrin, neither could come up with an answer. It got even weirder when Nancy Bobofit approached them with a nasty smirk dancing on her lips. "I hope Mrs. Kerr whooped your butts?"

Percy was about to say something when Naruto snorted. "After we showed her that I didn't have a laser pointer on me and Percy was with Grover and I eating lunch, she let us go with a warning. But believe me. You won't be so lucky when Karma comes back to chew on your ass some more, you prissy little brat. Your daddy's money may buy you friends at the school and keep you out of trouble, but you will end up in a situation where daddy won't be there to help you and I'll laugh my ass off when that day comes."

With that said, the students filed back onto the bus, but not before Mr. Brunner took back the ring and pen and said something. "I see you found my lucky ring, Mr. Uzumaki. Thank you for returning it to me. I've been looking for it everywhere. And as for the return of my pen, Mr. Jackson, please bring your own writing utensil in the future."

While Percy was asking around about their former pre-Algebra teacher, Mrs. Dodds, and getting looks like he was crazy, Naruto was busy observing their reactions to his constant questions. While almost every student seemed to genuinely not know who Mrs. Dodds was or that she even existed in the first place, Grover clearly knew something he wasn't telling. The same could be said for Mr. Brunner, though he clearly hid his reactions much better than their friend.

After days of trying to trip someone up and being told they had a major test coming up, Percy and Naruto were in Percy's dorm room reading their Latin books. Naturally, their Dyslexia was severely crippling their attempts at studying, though Percy's growing frustration certainly wasn't helping. Rather, it was making his Dyslexia act up even more than usual. Just as the green eyed boy was about to chuck the book at the wall, Naruto placed a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder and gave him an understanding smile.

"I know that the whole 'Mrs. Dodds trying to kill us, us killing Mrs. Dodds, and nobody even remembering she existed' thing is getting to you, but you have to try and calm down," Naruto said soothingly.

"The letters just keep jumping off the page and mixing around with one another. I can't even tell you the difference between Chiron and Charon."

"Chiron is a centaur who was granted immortality to help train the children of the Gods and Goddesses to become heroes. Charon is the ferryman of the dead who resides in the Underworld," Naruto said with a chuckle. "If that still confuses you, Chiron the trainer has an I while Charon the ferryman has an A."

Percy still looked at him as though he had just grown another head in front of his very eyes. Naruto sighed tiredly. "Mr. Brunner is pretty cool about helping his students out. If you want to, I'll go with you to visit him. Alright?" Percy nodded and smiled at his friend before the two took off to Mr. Brunner's office.

As the duo got closer to the Latin teacher's office, they could hear a familiar voice coming from within the doors. Naruto motioned to just outside of the door's window to overhear the conversation from.

"...worried about Naruto and Percy, sir," came the voice of their friend Grover.

Another voice came forth, probably Mr. Brunner, but he was whispering something the two could barely make out.

Pressing their ears to the door, they could hear Grover begin to reply again. "...alone this summer. I mean, a Kindly One in the school!? Now that we know for sure, and they must know something is wrong now..."

"We would only make matters worse by rushing them," Mr. Brunner replied. "They both need time to mature."

"But they may not have time," Grover said adamantly. "With the summer solstice deadline coming..."

"It will have to be resolved without them," Mr. Brunner stated calmly. "Let them enjoy their ignorance while they still can."

"They saw her..."

"Their imagination," the Latin teacher reminded him pointedly. "The Mist over the students and staff should be enough to convince them of that."

"Sir...I...I can't fail in my duties again," Grover implored to the teacher. "You know what that would mean."

"You haven't failed in your duties, Grover," Mr. Brunner said reassuringly. "For now, let's worry about keeping Percy and Naruto alive until fall."

As soon as Percy heard the part about keeping them both alive, his Latin book slipped through his fingers and landed on the floor, alerting the two in the room to a presence nearby. Naruto picked up the book and dragged Percy up the stairwell, where they flattened against the wall.

Once they were sure the teacher and Grover were gone, they hightailed it back to Percy's dorm before shutting the door quickly.

Percy looked over at Naruto, his nerves were clearly shaken by the conversation. "What do you think they meant by keep us alive until the fall, Naruto?"

The blond bit his bottom lip anxiously before muttering a small, silent curse. "I don't know, but I don't like being kept in the dark about things that involve my well-being." Naruto swore again under his breath before the tension seemed to ease its way out of his body. "For now, we should just stay alert. Keep an eye out for anything that seems off...like Nancy Bobofit being nice to you, me, and Grover."

Percy chuckled a bit at the joke. He couldn't be more thankful to have a friend like Naruto around. He could put people at ease with a smile and a few kind words. He always spoke his mind and was, though completely unaware of it, the most blunt person you could ever meet. If he thought you were an idiot, he would just up and say it rather than sugarcoat it like others would. For that, Percy often blamed and thanked his mother, depending on the circumstances surrounding his bluntness.

"Thanks, Ruto," Percy stated in a calmer tone. "I needed that."

Naruto grinned and gave Percy a thumbs up. "No problem, Perce. For now, let's just get back to studying and put this whole deal with Mr. Brunner and those 'Kindly Ones' on the back burner."

The following day, Naruto and Percy walked out of Mr. Brunner's Latin class with frowns on their faces. While Naruto was confident he passed, albeit with a low grade. Percy was complaining about the words looking like alphabet soup when he tried to answer them to the best of his ability.

"Mr. Jackson," came the voice of Mr. Brunner from the doorway once the last student had gone to the next class. "Mr. Uzumaki. May I speak with the two of you alone for a moment?"

Percy looked hesitant, though that may be because the conversation from last night was still fresh in his mind. Naruto put a reassuring hand on Percy's shoulder as the two walked back into the classroom with the wheelchair-bound teacher with the scruffy brown hair and beard.

"What did you want to talk about, Mr. Brunner," Naruto asked cautiously.

"Naruto, Percy," he started, seeming slightly awkward as he tried to pick the best words to use. "Don't be discouraged about having to leave Yancey. It's for the best."

Percy looked like he wanted to object...to look offended. Naruto simply sighed in what could only seem like resignation.

"I understand, Mr. Brunner," Naruto said.

"What I mean is that this isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time," he said.

This time, Percy did look offended and Naruto couldn't blame him. Of course, he could hardly blame Mr. Brunner either. He was...clearly not the best in the world when it came time to delivering bad news without making it worse.

"No, no," Mr. Brunner said angrily at himself. "Confound it all. What I'm trying to say is that neither of you are normal. That's nothing to be..."

"Thanks," Percy said abruptly. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."

With that said, Percy stormed out the door while Naruto took his hand and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Percy-"

"Don't worry about him, Mr. Brunner," Naruto said calmly. "I know you were trying your best to make him feel better."

"Thank you for your patience, Naruto," the teacher said.

Naruto frowned slightly. "Mr. Brunner, I want you to tell me the truth. You know something about Percy and me. Something you have felt fit to hide from us. At the time, I wanted to believe you were looking out for us, and I appreciate it. More than you know. But I need you to tell me what's going on. Mrs. Dodds turning into what you call a 'Kindly One'. The pen that turned into a sword. The ring that turned into a bow and arrows. Please. Tell me the truth. I deserve that much, at least."

Mr. Brunner bit his lip and looked Naruto in the eyes before sighing in resignation. "Very well, but I won't be able to tell you everything here." He pulled out a business card written in some kind of foreign language, but Naruto was able to read it with ease in spite of never having seen this before in his life.

_**Chiron**_

_**Trainer of Heroes**_

_**Half-Blood Hill**_

_**Long Island, New York**_

_**(800)002-0002**_

"Now, this is where I work over the summer. The answers I can't give you, you can find there," Mr. Brun...I mean, Chiron explained. "You and Percy are both demigods, at least, we suspect Percy is. You, however, are definitely one. Who your godly parent is largely unknown. You must wait for them to claim you. Some gods and goddesses claim their children immediately while others sometimes go their entire lives without being claimed."

Naruto nodded to himself. He could see that some gods had so many children that they could easily forget more than a few or that they were so embarrassed by their children that they didn't want them to represent them on any quests. However, for a god or goddess to not claim their child felt the same as simply saying 'I never wanted you to be born'. It disgusted him greatly to know that the gods sired children and refused to claim them.

"How do I get to this camp," Naruto asked carefully.

"Your father should have given the instructions to your mother when they realized she was pregnant with you, but if she hasn't," he said before pulling out a small map in his pocket with a blank forest area by the Long Island Sound circled in red followed by a line that traveled the map from point a (Yancey Academy) to point b (Camp Half-Blood), "then this will help guide you there. I should warn you now, you can either be a year-round camper and stay there permanently or you could only go during the summer and come home for the other three seasons to go to school. It's up to you."

Naruto took the map and tucked it away in his pocket. "What about Percy?"

"Grover will help get him there," Chiron stated. "He has placed himself in charge of Percy's safety and journey to camp. He deserves this chance to prove himself as a capable protector."

Naruto looked up at the clock and saw it was getting late. He and Chiron must have been speaking to one another for some time. "Well, since I doubt I'll be coming back next year, I'll just go ahead and pack my stuff for home. Get a head start to get ready for camp. Not really much I can do if I'm just barely gonna pass the year, ya know?"

Chiron nodded. "I understand. I look forward to your arrival at camp, Naruto."

The boy nodded and left just as the last bell rang.

A little bit later, Naruto met back with Percy in his room and already started packing for his trip home. Percy noticed his sunny disposition as he packed and decided to ask a few questions.

"What's up," the raven-haired boy asked curiously. "You going home early?"

"Yeah," Naruto said plainly. "I barely got by with a passing grade and the headmaster already said we weren't invited back next year, so I'm going to go ahead and split for home."

"Won't your mom be upset at you leaving early?"

Naruto gave a hearty laugh. "No way. I've gotten into so many fights at my other schools that she'd think it was weird if I didn't get kicked out of school. She'd probably congratulate me for lasting this long into the year, though, before getting expelled."

"You going anywhere special?"

"Maybe some kind of summer camp. I got this weird pamphlet for a 'Camp Half-Blood' in my locker, so I might give them a shot," Naruto said, causing Percy to freeze in place.

"Grover gave me a business card with 'Camp Half-Blood' on it, like that was where he lived or worked," Percy said.

Naruto smiled. "All the more reason to go then."

"What about the Mrs. Dodds incident?"

Naruto sighed. "Well, we haven't seen or heard anything outside of the ordinary since then. Maybe it was just a one-time deal. Mistaken identity and what not."

"And Mr. Brunner insulting us. Saying we didn't belong here?"

"Are you sure he meant to insult you like that," Naruto asked. "He may have just been trying to find the right words to explain it to you since...you know, you are his favorite student and he hated to tell you that the headmaster said you weren't welcome back next year. Some people just aren't that good at giving bad news. I didn't take it personally and neither should you."

Percy sighed. "Now that you say it like that, I feel kinda bad about blowing up on him like that. I'll apologize to him the next time I see him."

Naruto closed his suitcase and fastened the latches on it. "Well, I guess I'll see you later, Perce."

"Yeah," Percy said with a sad smile. "I'll see you later, Ruto."

And with those parting words, Naruto took the local bus back home, unable to wait to tell his mother about what happened, his face-to-face with an actual monster, fighting and defeating said monster, discovering he was a demigod, and his meeting with Chiron.

It was going to be a long summer indeed.


	2. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Naruto!

**Naruto Uzumaki, Son of Apollo: The Lightning Thief**

**Warning: I don't own Naruto or PJO. Don't ask me again.**

**Written By: Rave Rose of Twilight**

Chapter Two: Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Naruto! Let's Get You Settled In!

"YOU DID WHAT!?"

That is the sound made by an angry/upset mother when told their son had killed his pre-Algebra teacher who turned out to be a monster who believed her son had stolen something from her/whoever she worked for.

"Well, to be honest, she was looking at Percy more than she was looking at me when she was shrieking about stealing something," Naruto admitted with his hands held in a placating manner.

"You could have died," Kushina screamed.

"But we didn't," Naruto said.

While she wanted to argue with him, Kushina knew that Naruto was just like any Uzumaki. Stubborn to a fault and incredibly proud. All she could do was shake her head and smile softly.

"I'm just glad you're safe," she said.

Naruto frowned slightly when he thought back to his conversation with Chiron. "But I'm not, am I?" Kushina raised an eyebrow. "Chiron told me...that dad is one of the Greek gods. That I'm a demigod and that creatures like Mrs. Dodds will go out of their way to kill me."

Kushina sighed and ruffled her baby boy's head of spiky blond hair, irritating him slightly since he believed himself to be too old for stuff like that. "I'm sorry you had to learn about him like that," she admitted. "I guess I was hoping to have a few more years with you before you found out. Just a few more years of thinking you were normal...or at least as normal as an Uzumaki can be."

"It's not like I'll be gone forever as soon as I get to Camp Half-Blood," Naruto stated. "Chiron told me that I would get a choice whether to go there year-round or just for the summer. I can train during the summer and come back to go to school...or just spend time with you."

Kushina shook her head. "If you were anyone else's son, you would probably be right about that, but you are as much your father's son as you are mine. You are just too strong for those monsters to ignore. Of course, I would love to have you come visit once in a while, but you will need to stay at the camp almost all year-round. Why else do you think I taught you how to fight and sent you to those martial arts classes? Just in case a monster caught a whiff of your god blood and uncovered who you really were, you would be able to defend yourself."

"So you knew this would happen," he asked in an agitated tone.

Kushina nodded sadly. "When I told your father I was pregnant with you, he told me to send you to Camp Half-Blood when you turned seven so you would be protected from monsters and would eventually learn to defend yourself. I guess it was selfish of me to want you to stay by my side and hope that monsters didn't find out about you being a demigod."

"Mom," Naruto said in a hushed whisper.

"But after everything that's happened so far, I don't think you'll be safe here anymore," she admitted. "Unfortunately, the car is in the shop, so I can't drive you to Camp Half-Blood. You'll have to go there on foot."

"Without a weapon or something, I'll be picked off fairly easily," Naruto said flatly.

"I know," Kushina said cheerfully before walking into the closet. The sounds of shuffling clothes and moving boxes could barely be heard over his mother's constant whining along the lines of 'It should be around here somewhere' and 'What did I do with that stupid old thing'. Naruto was about to ask what his mother was searching for when she suddenly shouted 'Aha' followed by the smack of a board on flesh followed yet again by a loud, yet childish 'Owie. Damn it! Who put that shelf there'.

Naruto was just thankful nobody else was around or he would have hidden his face simply from the embarrassment his mother's comment was having on him at that point in time. Instead, he only palmed his face and shook his head. Why did his family have to be so weird. A flaky Greek god for a father and a childish, volatile redhead for a mother. Why did he have to be the relatively normal one!?

When Kushina walked out of the closet, Naruto's eyes were instantly drawn to the bronze rod that was just a bit longer than her closed fist along with a small quiver of bronze arrows in her other hand. "Your father gave these to me before he left. He wanted you to have them when you were supposed to go to Camp Half-Blood in order to protect yourself."

Naruto looked at the staff his mother handed him questionably while strapping the quiver to his back. "What am I supposed to do with a bronze rod? Beat a monster to death with it?"

His mother giggled. "Squeeze the rod. It's special."

Naruto did as his mother suggested and watched in awe as the rod transformed into a bronze recurve bow. "Okay. I'm only going to say this once. Dad, whoever the hell you are, thanks for the bad ass bow."

Kushina looked up at the sun and saw it was beginning to set. "You should stay here for tonight. It will be dark before long and you'll need all of your energy to make it to Camp Half-Blood just in case you get attacked by monsters along the way."

Naruto nodded in acknowledgment before hugging his mother tightly. "I love you, mom," he whispered before heading to his room to prepare for his journey. By the time Naruto was out of earshot, Kushina's smile turned into a neutral frown.

"You're taking a huge risk by showing up now, Grandfather," she said firmly.

From the shadows, a pair of seafoam green eyes shone brightly in a palpable sense of amusement. "Does he know about me? About his lineage?"

Kushina scoffed. "He's only learned about his father, in spite of not knowing who he is yet. If he knew his godblood was thicker than most other demigods..."

"Why are you so bitter about him going to Camp Half-Blood," the figure asked. "Surely you must have known this was going to happen eventually."

Kushina spun around quickly and glared directly into the eyes of her grandfather. "Why am I _bitter_," she spat venomously. "Because he shouldn't have to deal with bullshit like fighting monsters in order to survive. Having to wait for his father to claim him before he can even hope to grasp the gist of the situation his birth holds on the world. Because his best friend is technically his great uncle. Because my mother should have been your last child after World War 2. Believe me. I have several dozen reasons to be bitter about him going to Camp Half-Blood, though most of them are your fault in the first place."

The green eyes of the shadow seemed to lose some of their brilliance. "And now I am paying for my mistakes. Zeus believes I stole his Master Bolt and demands either I or Percy delivers it to him by summer solstice or war will break out between the gods."

Kushina froze in place and her hands clenched into fists, her knuckles turned white and her nails threatened to draw blood from her palm. "You are a piece of work, you know that? Not only do you put your son's life in danger by breaking the oath, but now you're going to drag my son into it?"

"I am sorry, Kushina," the figure said sadly.

"Get out of my house," Kushina spat in a whispered hiss. "I have to get Naruto ready for his trip to camp."

The figure nodded and the green eyes closed before his presence vanished entirely.

The next morning, after a healthy breakfast of cereal and eggs, Naruto picked up his backpack and put the quiver of arrows inside of it before stuffing the rod in his pocket before walking to the front door with his mother following quickly behind him. Before he opened the door, his mother gave him a few comforting words of advice and one last hug and kiss on the cheek before sending him on his way with about $1,000 in cash, bills both small and large and a prayer.

As the hours passed, Naruto could feel his nerves begin to flitter around. His eyes flew from person to person, seemingly trying to figure out who could be a monster and who was a regular jackoff. He could feel several pairs of eyes on him and it kind of freaked him out a bit, but the sun's rays seemed to put him at ease, if only just slightly. With every passing glance, Naruto could swear he saw some people grow fangs as sharp as any sword and eyes that looked like they could steal your soul and end your life with relative ease.

As he approached Yancey Academy's main gates, he could have sworn he saw a massive hawk sitting on the rooftop looking down at him with a sparkle in its eyes. Pulling out the map Chiron gave him, the blond studied it intensely before looking at his surroundings and finally setting off toward Camp Half-Blood once again.

As night began to fall, Naruto had made it to Queens. It didn't take long for him to begin to feel tired. So he looked around and found an abandoned building on the far side of the city. Looking around, Naruto noticed nothing out of the ordinary. The air in the empty building smelled stale and dry with years of dust and debris. Pipes that used to carry water were rusty and hollow, only adding to the sense that this was like those old ghost towns you heard of out west from the 1800s.

As he continued his search, he could have sworn he saw something run from the shadows behind a large machine that had since died from the years of decay and malfunctions. Naruto reached into his pocket and grabbed the bronze rod, clenching it tightly in his hand as more of a safety precaution than to use it as a weapon at the moment.

**SWOOSH**

This time, he drew the rod and practically crushed it in his palm, causing the bow to appear in an instant before drawing a bronze arrow from the hidden quiver in his backpack. His senses were on hypersensitive and hyperactive like a light switch had just been flipped on in his mind.

His eyes seemed to adjust to the darkness quickly. He could hear growling coming from the shadows and two pairs of yellow eyes shone against the darkness. Naruto kept his arrow trained on the eyes in front of him, though he knew the ones behind him were just as dangerous as the ones he could see.

A primal roar and Naruto barely avoided being tackled from behind by this massive black, furless dog-like thing with yellow, reptilian eyes and a body of pure muscle. He loosed his arrow at the dog while its back was turned and watched as it exploded into golden dust, signifying its demise, and a pile of black leather-like skin fell where it once stood. Unfortunately, this gave the other creature the chance to attack and it took full advantage.

Naruto felt a hundred pounds of pure muscle barrel into his side, knocking him to the ground and causing his bow to clatter to the far end of the building, under one of the machines. The other pitch black dog-like thing growled as it turned around quickly and rushed him again. This time, Naruto was slightly more prepared and planted his feet on the monster's abdomen before launching him into the brick wall, causing it to be knocked down.

The building shook violently, a sign that the wall that now had a hole in it was an example of just how run down the building itself was. If the young boy had to take a guess, he would say that the building was on the verge of collapsing with him still inside. He had to get to his bow quickly and kill this other monster before the building fell on top of him. Demigod or not, he was pretty sure having a building collapse on him would kill him in an extremely violent manner that he didn't want to experience anytime soon.

Scrambling toward the machine, he reached under in an attempt to grab his bow, but it was just a bit out of reach. Stretching his tiny fingers as far as they could go, he could just barely touch the bow string. He curved his finger around it and pulled until the bow was now firmly resting in his hands. He heard the creature roar as it lunged at him. Spinning around to his back, he blocked the creature's jaws with his bow.

He needed an arrow! He...was actually going to die. Die in this crumbling building where nobody would even realize he was gone.

No.

**BA-BUMP**

He refused to die in such a miserable, pathetic way.

**BA-BUMP BA-BUMP**

He was going to make it to Camp Half-Blood and find out who his father was.

**BA-BUMP BA-BUMP BA-BUMP**

"My name...is Naruto Uzumaki," he growled at the creature, unaware that a glowing arrow of light was resting nocked to his bow as he pulled back the string with the arrow pointing directly into the beast's mouth, "and I REFUSE TO DIE UNTIL I FIND OUT WHO I AM AND LEAVE MY MARK ON THIS WORLD!"

With that, he loosed the glowing arrow into the creature's mouth, causing it to explode in a shower of golden dust, but it didn't stop there. The arrow continued on until it struck the roof, causing a massive explosion. Quick to retract his bow back into the bronze rod, he stuffed it into his backpack, along with the mass of black leather and ran out of the building just as it collapsed entirely.

It didn't take long for police cars and fire trucks to come screaming down his way. Thinking quickly, Naruto ran toward the nearby alley before hiding behind a large dumpster. As the police began to investigate the scene, they decided to call it a drug deal by local gangs gone wrong.

With the fire put out and the investigation over, Naruto curled up in his sleeping bag behind the dumpster he was hiding behind and went to sleep, absolutely exhausted from the fight that just took place moments ago.

The following day, Naruto packed everything up and continued on his journey. Within a few minutes, Naruto found himself at a local diner where he got some breakfast and found someone who would give him a ride to wherever he needed to go. When he said he was heading to a camp close to Montauk, she informed him that she too was heading there after work for a week-long vacation.

Her name was Kurenai Yuhi. She wore a waitress' uniform similar to those old school diner uniforms and had long brown hair and ruby red eyes that mesmerized him. She was nice enough. She gave him a discount on his breakfast and lunch and even talked to him when she wasn't busy. She asked him why he didn't take a bus to camp.

"Because it's so far out of the way and in the middle of the woods that no bus would be able to get there," he replied. She just nodded.

Once her friend, Anko, came to relieve her, Kurenai clocked out and brought Naruto to an old 1978 Ford Mustang King Cobra that looked like it was being brought back to life with the occasional restoration job. It still looked well-worn and put away wet. Naruto was definitely impressed that a waitress could afford such a nice ride and put in some money for restorations.

The drive to Montauk was a quiet one, but not unwelcome. They enjoyed each others company. They listened to some big band music. Played some road games like the License Plate game and I-Spy. It was thoroughly enjoyable.

As Naruto looked down at his map, he could feel the hairs on his neck stand up. Either he was getting close to Camp Half-Blood and he was getting anxious...or something bad was about to happen.

"Miss Kurenai, can you pull over," he asked. She nodded and pulled over on the side of an old farm road. Naruto got out of the car and looked around, his eyes scanning over every inch of the area. He could see a strawberry farm about half a mile ahead of where they pulled over. The woods seemed to sway violently, even though there was barely a breeze to be felt.

"Is something wrong, Naruto," Kurenai asked, worry evident in the tone of her voice.

"No," he said firmly. "Go ahead to that cabin you rented, Miss Kurenai. Get there as fast as you can. My camp isn't too far from here. I can make it there from here easily enough."

"Are you sure? I can take you further if you want."

Naruto shook his head. "No. You need to go on your vacation. I need to get to my camp. Go. I can take care of myself."

Kurenai nodded and got back in the driver's seat. Before taking off, she rolled down the passenger side window. "Naruto," she called out, catching his attention. "Even if you don't believe in the gods, never forget that they will always believe in you."

With that said, Kurenai drove off down the street, a trail of dust flying behind her car. Mere moments after the smallest gust of wind blew away the dust and Kurenai and her car were gone. Naruto drew his bronze rod which turned into a bow with a flick of his wrist and a tightening of his grip.

"Hermes, make my feet fly as fast as the four winds. Artemis, guide my arrow and help it strike true," he whispered as he ran as fast as he ever thought he could. "Father, watch over me and give me the strength to face any obstacle that comes in between me and my goals." An arrow of light appeared nocked on the string as he continued to run.

That was when he came upon a scene that looked as though it came directly from his nightmares. Percy and Grover were laid up against a tall pine tree. Percy looked worse for the wear, but he was still conscious, though even that was starting to come and go as the minutes passed. Grover, however, was clearly unconscious and mumbling something. A horn was resting in Percy's lap, broken off from the massive minotaur that looked ready to charge them.

"Hey, hamburger boy," cried Naruto, catching the attention of both Percy and the minotaur in question. "Eat this!" The glowing golden arrow flew straight at the minotaur, catching it in the nose, severing the bronze ring from its nostrils and sending the monster exploding into golden dust. Just as the arrow flew through the minotaur, it seemed to dim until nothing was left except the faint after glow of the arrow until even that faded from sight.

Sweat dripped from Naruto's brow as he looked over the hill to see two girls and what looked like a centaur with brown hair. He looked at his bow in wonder before it turned back into a bronze rod he stuffed inside of his pocket before flopping on his butt. He looked down at his hands as they shook from exhaustion. That was twice he'd been able to conjure that glowing golden arrow. It clearly took a lot out of him.

"Annabeth, go check on Grover and young Percy," the centaur called, his familiar voice of Chiron ordered out. "Tenten, you're with me."

Naruto's vision was already blurry with the amount of energy he expended, but consciousness would not escape him. Naruto chuckled and waved his hand toward them. "Hey, Chiron," he said with a tired smile on his face. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Chiron chuckled. "Indeed it has, Mister Uzumaki. I'm glad to see you made it here safely."

Naruto scoffed. "Safely my ass," he cried indignantly. "First I get attacked by that 'Kindly One' at the museum. Then I'm almost eaten by these two weird black dogs in Queens! Then I see my two best friends almost get turned into hamburger by the man-bull thing! Why can't my life ever be simple, for crying out loud!"

"We're demigods," said a girl with brown hair tied into twin buns and deep chocolate brown eyes. She wore a pink qipao-style blouse and dark green Capri pants with black combat boots.. "Our lives will never be simple."

Naruto groaned. "Please don't remind me. It sucks thinking that the reason I almost got eaten or killed is just because my old man is a god and can't keep it in his pants for a century or two."

Tenten giggled to herself before just flat out busting a gut laughing at him. "Oh gods," she said trying to regain her breath. "I...can't...breathe!"

"Mister Uzumaki," Chiron said flatly. "It's not wise to make fun of the gods like that."

Naruto scoffed. "My old man should have known I'd be like this before he chose to get my mom pregnant. We Uzumaki have always had a rebellious streak."

"Indeed," Chiron said flatly. "I would still suggest you use discretion when mocking the gods, especially when you are not within the barriers surrounding the camp quite yet."

"Meh," Naruto said without a care in the world.

Tenten put an arm around Naruto's shoulder, almost knocking him flat with her surprising strength considering her lithe frame. "I can just tell that we're gonna be great friends."

Naruto chuckled and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "So what happens now?"

"For now, we should get Grover and Percy to camp to receive medical attention," Chiron informed him. "Following a checkup of your own, Tenten will give you a tour of the camp. Afterwards, if you still haven't been claimed by your father, you will be assigned a bunk in Hermes' cabin until you are claimed. However, if your father is one of the minor Olympians, you can be sponsored by one of the twelve Olympians to stay in their cabin."

Naruto sighed. "Great. Just wonderful. How long does it usually take for a parent to claim their child?" Chiron looked away and Tenten looked rather interested in the bronze bar sticking out of Naruto's pocket ever so slightly. Naruto felt a weight suddenly strike his head as his eye twitched angrily. "Tell me that everyone is claimed." Again, the two decided that something else was suddenly more interesting. "Why can't anything be simple anymore! If you can't keep it in your pants and get pregnant or get someone else pregnant, at least have the testicular fortitude to claim your children!"

Tenten grinned while Chiron rubbed his forehead as though stricken by a sudden migraine. "Yeah. We're definitely going to be best friends," Tenten said with a chuckle.

"Let's just get you three to the infirmary before the gods decide to strike us down with extreme prejudice," Chiron groaned before hoisting Percy on his back while Annabeth got Grover and Tenten helped steady Naruto before they headed off to the camp grounds.

It only took them half an hour to reach the camp. Grover was taken by other satyrs while Annabeth helped Chiron set Percy down on a bed while Naruto just sat down on the one next to him.

Percy was observed first since he looked to be in far worse condition than Naruto. The nurse said he broke a few ribs from the blow the minotaur gave him in combination with the concussion he sustained from hitting the tree. Otherwise, he would be alright after some bed rest and some nectar and ambrosia.

Naruto, surprisingly enough was only suffering minor exhaustion from using his powers too much after awakening them. What his powers were, she had no idea. Neither did Chiron, Annabeth, or Tenten since they arrived after he used it. Thankfully, nobody asked him to try to use them. He wasn't sure he was willing to stay in the hospital longer if one more use would put him in a similar state as Percy.

Once he was cleared and listed as perfectly healthy, Chiron and Tenten walked to the big blue building where Grover was sitting with an older man who wore a leopard print shirt over a blue tee shirt with shaggy black hair and matching black goatee. They were playing cards, pinochle, if Naruto were to hazard a guess.

When Grover spotted Naruto walking alongside Chiron and Tenten, he ran up to him and hugged the boy, thanking him for saving both his and Percy's lives from the minotaur. Naruto waved off the praise with a blush.

"Chill out, Grover," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head and trying to hide his embarrassment from everyone. "I'd do it for any of my friends, Grover. It's not that big a deal."

"You killed Pasiphae's son," exclaimed Tenten and Grover simultaneously. "Do you know how many demigods wished they had that same opportunity?"

"It's not that big a deal," Naruto stated firmly. "I'm sure that if I hadn't shown up, Percy would have been able to deal with it just as easily as I did."

"Don't sell yourself short, Naruto," Chiron stated with a gentle smile. "For someone who has yet to be trained in any form of combat aside from your martial arts, you did incredibly well."

Naruto pulled out the bronze rod and clenched it in his hand, causing it to expand into its full bow form. "I don't know why, but when I was shooting those black dogs and Pasiphae's son with my bow, I just felt like everything I needed to know was...downloaded into my head. Like I knew what to do and how to get it to do what I needed it to do on pure instinct."

Chiron nodded. "Some demigods here have claimed something similar when they were handed a weapon their godly parent was known to wield. It isn't a rare occurrence, but it is far from common as well."

"Hold on a moment," called Grover. "Black dogs?"

Naruto nodded and pulled the black leathery hide from his backpack. "When I killed one, this fell from it. The other dog dropped a tooth."

Grover didn't even need to inspect the hide to know what Naruto had faced and his chocolate skin paled several shades lighter. "You fought and killed two hellhounds!? Where?"

"Queens," Naruto informed them. "I found this abandoned building with loads of old machines in it. Once my eyes got adjusted to the dark, I thought I saw something darting between the machines. A few minutes later, I was ambushed by the two bastards. With some quick thinking and a moment where I almost had my face chewed off, I killed them both, resulting in a...minor incident."

"You call demolishing an old news paper factory a minor incident," called the man wearing the leopard print shirt.

"I didn't get caught and the police thought it had to do with drug dealers," Naruto said, placing a hand against his chin before grinning madly. "Yeah. That sounds relatively minor when compared to some of my more...daring exploits back when I thought I was a normal human."

"Like the time you blew up the principal's desk in the fourth grade," Grover complained with a bleating sound at the end. "Or the time you managed to give the biggest bully in the third grade an atomic wedgie before hanging him by his underwear from the flagpole. It took firefighters hours just to get him down without making the situation worse than it already was."

"That was then. This is now," Naruto said quickly, trying his best to change the subject. "Now, what is this place? I know it's a place for demigods, but aside from that, I'm pretty lost."

"Well, at least you aren't as stupid as some demigods who come here," the scruffy-looking man said. "First, I believe I should introduce myself. I am Mr. D. The camp's director. Chiron here is the activities director. Camp Half-Blood is a place where demigods come to train, take on quests, and live their lives as normally as possible within the safety of the barrier while continuing to train. The demigods are divided into twelve cabins signifying the twelve Olympians."

"New arrivals will typically go to Hermes' cabin, Cabin 11, until their godly parent claims them," Mr. D. stated firmly. IF your parent is from one of the twelve major Olympians, they will be sent to that god or goddess' cabin. If your parent is one of the minor Olympians, the councilor of one of the major twelve can sponsor you and you will be allowed to live there if the vote is unanimous enough. If no councilor sponsors you, you will live in Hermes' cabin since he openly accepts demigods in his cabin even if they aren't his children."

Naruto nodded, taking all of the information in before turning to Tenten. "So who is your godly parent?"

Tenten smiled. "Hephaestus, the God of the Forge. His children live in Cabin 9. We forge all of the weapons and armor and repair any that is in bad shape. If anyone took care of their weapons and armor as much as my brothers and I do, we wouldn't need to keep the forges running 24/7."

"That's pretty bad ass," Naruto stated.

Tenten nodded. "Do you know anything about your godly parent, Naruto?"

Naruto shook his head. "Not much. Just the things my mom knew about him. He was a flaky, womanizing, pathetic excuse for a poet. I've got his hair and eyes, though."

Tenten shook her head. She had an idea about who Naruto's father was, but nothing concrete. "Well, there are a ton of blue eyed blonds who attend the camp. Most of them belong to Apollo, but I've seen some in several other cabins, though because you know your godly parent is your father, that takes a huge chunk out of the list of possible parents."

The young boy nodded. For some reason, the thought of finally finding out who his father was filled him with both joy and fear. Would his father be proud of him? Would he be so ashamed of his very existence that he refused to claim him? Did his father even give a damn about him?

He shook his head free from the dark thoughts and continued to follow Tenten as she guided him toward all of the cabins and eventually to the stables.

As Naruto approached the stables with Tenten, something rang through his ears. He paused briefly and closed his eyes. Focusing only on his hearing, Naruto tried to hear the sounds coming from the stables. There was a lot of neighing, but one thing sounded off.

There was another, far different sound coming from the stables. A yipping, if he had to guess. Naruto ran to the stables so suddenly that Tenten, who had been stunned by his sudden action, ran after him, shouting at him to stop or slow down. Either he didn't hear her or he was to preoccupied in finding the source of the sound that he continued to run straight toward the stables.

As soon as he opened the barn door, he saw this crimson fox jumping between two horses, trying its hardest to get them to play with it. The horses seemed to ignore the tiny kit in favor of eating their hay. Naruto couldn't help but smile at the scene and giggled to himself.

The fox stopped its frantic jumping and spun around to look at Naruto with a feeling of fear waved over it. But before it could flee, it paused. His nose inhaled the scent of the young boy carefully. Hesitantly, it took a few steps closer and continued to take in the scent of the strange, smiling blond boy.

Tenten stood back, behind Naruto as he knelt down to the fox and offered it his hand. Warily, the fox walked up and sniffed his palm before happily yipping and rubbing its cheek against it. Naruto carefully picked up the fox and placed it on his shoulder before turning around to Tenten's shocked expression.

"Do you know what that fox is," Tenten said quite loudly.

Naruto looked over to his new friend and scratched its scalp. "Cute. Furry. Warm."

"It's a Teumessian fox," she shouted. "It was a great being that was destined to never be caught!"

"If it makes you feel better, I technically didn't catch it," Naruto said flatly. "Besides, I've always had a thing for animals. Dogs. Cats. Crows. I am generally well-liked by the animal kingdom."

"That's not the point," she cried out. "The original Teumessian fox was sent to the stars and became Canis Minor! It should be impossible for him to exist right now!"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe the original Teumessian fox had kits, who were, as its father, destined to never be caught. I mean, the gods and goddesses have kids all the time. Why not the Teumessian fox?"

Tenten opened her mouth...then shut it again before shaking her head. His logic made sense, in some strange and twisted way. She just didn't want to think about it anymore.

As she guided him and gave him the general tour, she noticed that Naruto and his new fox friend were taking in her every word. Before long, the tour was over and Naruto was guided back to Chiron, who was now collecting several chips from Mr. D and Grover.

Chiron and Mr. D. looked up and gaped at the fox resting on Naruto's shoulder. Mr. D. knew that fox well enough. He knew the progenitor of the fox's blood line and was both stunned and mildly interested in what was going to happen since the Teumessian fox had decided to appear back on the mortal plane once more.

Regardless, the following years were bound to be interesting.


End file.
